The votes are in on the now "Miami" Marlins but I have my own recap.
To the Brain Dead People: This wasn’t about liking baseball or not liking baseball. This was about PAYING for a STADIUM with PUBLIC DOLLARS during a economic crisis. It was about the use of tax dollars.
To the Room Temperature IQ People: Did you hear Mayor Alvarez say to Sally Heyman that he couldn’t guarantee that they wouldn’t use General Funds? Do you care? Do you want a baseball ball stadium you can't afford to go to more than cheap garbage pickup or lower bus fares?
More to the Brain Dead about Jobs: Did you hear Katy Sorenson say that the same part-time jobs at Joe Robbie would move over to this stadium? Either you will be trading the workforce from Jordan’s district to Barreiro’s or the workers from Jordan’s district will travel further. And, what is all this shit, treating the Robbie site as if it were in another country? It is in North Dade. That didn't offend you Barbara Jordan? It should have.
To the Unions: It is the same jobs if you work on the convention center or the stadium. Jobs are jobs. A competitive convention center would give us more bang for the buck and would actually fill up the hotels that generate the tax.
A convention center brings much more tourists than baseball. Listen up: Tourists don’t go to baseball games. Barreiro said that the stadium would fill up South Beach hotels. Are you out of your mind Bruno?
To the Team Owners: This was all about jacking up the worth of your property by multi-millions. Do you give a hoot about keeping baseball in Miami? No, because you kept threatening to take it away. This sport is dying a slow death. But just ask George Bush about making money off of publicaly funded baseball stadiums. If memory serves me, his 1% share that he invested (about $600,000) was jacked up to 10% ownership of the Texas Rangers. The community passed a bond to build a new stadium. Which was later called Enron Field. After the stadium was paid for with taxpayer money the investors sold the team at a generous profit. I just read that x-president Bush's share was $14,000,000.
I can’t go on forever, readers, fill in the blanks I have left because I am all over the place.
But remember one thing, I love baseball. I have Joe DiMaggio’s autograph, and Goose Gossage’s, and Ron Guidry’s among others. I wouldn’t ever fly to New York to watch a Yankees game. When I lived there I did. Here in Florida I go to basketball games. And, will you all go watch this National News video on the Marlins attendance. I was watching the video thinking, are going to pay to air condition a stadium for 200 fans? I predict Loria, Samson and the rest of the crew will be gone by the time we get to air conditioning issues.
12 comments:
My favorite part -- Burgess stating that "there is no way this team is ever leaving Miami."
A short time later -- "I do not have a crystal ball."
They think we are fools.
We are fools. Did you watch the people speaking in favor of the stadium?
What do you mean; "tourists don't go to baseball games"?
I'm not a huge baseball fan. I've been to maybe 10 Marlin's Games in my life. But I've been to games at The King Dome, The Astro Dome, Wriggly Feild, Fenway Park, Camden Yard, and Doger Stadium all while traveling with my family of 5 when I was younger.
Families that travel here from places that do not have teams would love to see a game more than a family with children wants to go see WICKED at the PAC.
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I don't want to see wicked either. We agree on that.
Okay moderate, ask 10 friends how many times they traveled TO see a baseball game. Not traveled AND saw a baseball game.
I do agree that seeing some of the historic stadiums is a thrill to some people, like you, but there aren't enough of you. Just like I go to jazz performances...not very many of us do.
Whether a tourist travels to see a game is nearly irrelevant. Of course, some fans travel to see their teams play and such travel has added to our community's tourist economy. Also, playoff and special event tourism has provided occasional boosts. The unanswered (and probably unanswerable) question is whether such fans will travel to Miami MORE OFTEN because of the new stadium.
The core issue is that this stadium is: (1) poorly timed based on the economy; (2) much more expensive than necessary to retain the franchise; (3) relatively less attractive when compared to other currently available uses of the taxes; and (4) totally inexcusable based on the uses the legislature might have permitted if the community had asked for changes in the statutes.
For those of you out there feeling discouraged, look on the bright side. First, we no longer have to listen to that whiny David Samson begging for money. (He will go back to his natural state as a haughty little s**t.)
Second, Burgess's first cost increase should be a display of double-speak for the ages.
Last, the current Mayor is mercifully term-limited and, given his history, is very likely slither back out of view for the next few years.
-AR
So the public puts up almost exactly three-quarters of the cost, and the team gets virtually all of the revenues. That's not quite as bad as the Washington Nationals deal, but it's in the same, er, ballpark, especially when you consider that virtually all of the spending at the Marlins' new home will be cannibalized from existing spending elsewhere in Miami-Dade County — unless you really believe that more people will schedule summer vacations to Florida so that they can see the Marlins play.
Miami residents, in the end, will be paying a high, high price to free themselves from the team's constant move threats and get to watch ballgames without fear of getting rained on. Now that the deed is done, you have to hope that at least more fans will actually use the place than turned out to be the case in D.C., or this could be another boondoggle for the ages. —Neil deMause
http://www.fieldofschemes.com/news/archives/2009/03/3602_marlins_win_fin.html
Not "virtually" all of the revenues - ALL of the revenues.
Name one that the County or City get a piece of. They could cash in if Loria dumps the franchise, but he won't until the clock runs out.
Parking. Miami builds the garage, the Marlins operate, collect the $ and buy it eventually for a 25 cents on the dollar if that.
Rent. Marlins: We don't pay no stinking rent. The team gets a LOAN from the county and the county calls repayment of the loan "rent." AND the team gets to add that to their presumed "contribution" to the stadium.
Naming rights. County gave that away. Worth some $10-20 million a year.
Residuals or profit sharing. Nope.
Property taxes. Fuggeddaboudit.
Taxes on the bonds. Nada.
Sales tax on the construction materials for Pete's sake? Not even. The County is acting as the middle man so they can dodge that too.
They're going to throw some money around to fix up some public ball fields, but compared to their take on this deal, that's a rounding error.
For the shoe size IQ people, Alvarez said when people voted for him they voted for this so he doesn't want to hear that nobody had the opportunity to vote for this. Samson said the same thing a couple of times that we voted for this.
I'm guilty, size 11, sorry.
That's the same comment, why people shouldn't vote for Florida Hometown Democracy: that our elected representatives are the ones we choose to make decisions on growth. But the truth is-- and everyone knows it-- if the stadium had been put to a popular vote it would have failed. It passed the county commission because the money pot was huge. Decisions like the Marlins deal erode people's confidence in govt which is already at a low low point. I hate to say this, but I know what it felt like in 1938.
The taxpayers are paying for 98% to 100% of the cost for the Marlins Stadium. The taxpayers pay the upfront construction costs. After maybe 2-3 years the Marlins, with little shit David Samson, will attempt to get a loan to come up with their so-called contribution. That means they will attempt to mortgage or bond out all the revenues they will be getting because Carlos Alvarez and George Burgess and Manny Diaz are too stupid to get a fair deal for the taxpayers. (Was Larry Spring working for the Marlins?)
By the way, less than 1% of attendees at professional baseball games are tourists.
I hate politics. there is nothing good in it.
Only a complete ignoramus thinks Bush would make any money on Enron Field which houses the Astros.
Good joke though!
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